Track preparation offers possibility of six-second passes, says Competition Consultant

By Akeem Greene

Those in the luxury of their homes, on a mobile device, or in person at South Dakota Circuit should be in for a treat of blistering times when the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) stages round one of the Drag Racing Championships.

According to Kurt Johnson, a Competition Consultant who works with the United States of America-based Total Venue Concepts (TVC), the amount of track preparation they have done over the past weeks will offer  drivers a chance to have their cars perform to full potential.

The restoration works were funded by Team Mohamed’s principal, Azruddin Mohamed, and according to Johnson, it gives Team Mohamed’s the platform to go quick.

“Azruddin has three cars, one is a pure race car, one is a very fast streetcar and the other is a streetcar; out of the white car you will probably see a 6.90 [seconds], I certainly think 6.90 seconds is capable,” Johnson told News Room Sport in an exclusive interview.

He added, “Out of the other two cars, a 7.90 is possible [for the Nismo] and 7.20 [for Goliath], and I also heard you have a pretty wicked [Toyota] Celica running around somewhere.”

The TVC group builds track equipment and has about 165 tracks worldwide. Johnson divulged the intricacies behind the massive investment.

“We came in here after you guys have just put in a brand new surface of concrete and asphalt. We came in and basically put the rubber surface down on it, using various pieces of equipment and race tyres [and] we applied rubber on the surface.”

“We have traction compound which is a glue which makes it really stickier and allows the tires to grip to it on the race cars and it increases the traction co-efficient so that the cars can put down more power than you could on say asphalt or normal concrete,” the Consultant explained.

Johnson said there are long man-hours that go into the process to get it to a stage where they can compete and even after it takes about a day to prepare for the races.

“To go from a completely bare surface to a competition-ready surface; it takes about 60 man-hours. It takes about seven days when you equate in all the other issues and things you have to do deal with. And from this point, it takes a day every time you want to get ready to go racing.”

He said in the future they will return and do grind work to the concrete and possibly replace the asphalt with a tighter mix, which would allow the cars to put down more power.

Johnson, who does similar work in many Caribbean countries, stated: “You have a lot of fast cars here.”

Only a limited number of tickets will be sold for entry into South Dakota Circuit.

Tickets will be sold exclusively at the club’s office, located at Thomas and Albert Streets, Thomas Lands, Georgetown, and patrons can make their purchase from Thursday morning (February 25).

The club indicated tickets will not be sold at gate entrances on race day and persons without a ticket will not be allowed entry into the venue. All persons attending the event must wear a mask.

According to the GMR&SC, COVID-19 restrictions mean they can only sell 1,300 tickets. Tickets for adults cost $2,000 each, while children are $500 and VIP $8,000.

Only 70 VIP tickets would be up for sale.